In-state students at UI, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa will see a 5 percent increase. But there are additional mandatory fees, and out-of-state students and students in specialized programs, such as business, engineering and nursing, will have increases up to 41.4 percent.

Although the majority of students at all three universities receive some financial aid, the tuition hike will cause real hardship for many students and their families. The most recent data on wages in Iowa show that the average weekly wage rose by 3.4 percent from the second quarter of 2009 to the second quarter of 2010. That was the 10th highest rate of increase in the country, but in absolute terms, Iowa wages are still low. The average weekly wage in Iowa during the second quarter of 2010 was $709, which puts us in 44th place among the 50 states and District of Columbia.

Two regents, Michael Gartner and Ruth Harkin, voted against the tuition increase. The seven who voted in favor were David Miles, Jack Evans, Bonnie Campbell, Robert Downer, Craig Lang, Greta Johnson and Rose Vasquez. (Governor Terry Branstad’s three appointees to the board will begin their terms on May 1.) Morelli reported,

Gartner proposed using the 5 percent increase as a cap and leveraging more state funds from lawmakers by offering to reduce the increase for in-state undergraduates. For every $7 million more the state provided, the regents could reduce the increase by 1 percentage point for in-state undergraduates, he said. […]

However, regents and university officials said it was too late in the game for such a proposal. Tuition normally is approved in December but the regents pushed it back, waiting for a clearer picture on budget expectations. Students and families typically must decide on admission by May 1, and they need a firm figure for what their tuition will be, ISU President Gregory Geoffroy said.

In all likelihood tuition would not be going up for thousands of Iowa students if legislators had pledged to maintain or increase current funding levels. State revenues have come in ahead of projections in recent months, and Iowa is expected to end the current fiscal year with nearly $900 million in combined surpluses and reserve funds.

The regents approved a 2 percent salary increase next year and a 2.5 percent increase the following year for University of Iowa graduate student employees. Members of Service Employees International Union will receive an across-the-board 3 percent raise the next two years. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees will receive a 2 percent raise in July and a 1 percent raise in January each of the next two years and a continuation of step increases valued at 4.5 percent for eligible employees.

Any thoughts about education funding in Iowa are welcome in this thread.

1 Comment

Not surprising

I actually knew seven or eight hard line conservatives there on campus during my short time at U of I. I always wondered what kind of financial assistance they were getting, only a couple of them seemed wealthy, but I could have been wrong with my prejudices.